My Own Little World

Blade Runner 2049 is a really, really, really beautiful film. I don’t think I have been more visually or sonically treated in the past few years of watching movies. Between Roger Deakins’s Oscar-winning cinematography that is transportive and elegant, Hans Zimmer’s electronically graceful score, the sound direction, production design, and perfect (and I do mean perfect) visual effects, there is so much to take in from each shot that I almost could not comprehend everything that was happening. And that is Blade Runner 2049 ’s undoing. As perfect as Denis Villeneuve’s technical direction of the film is, its structure and narrative are kind of a mess. I loved Ridley Scott’s original film that discussed big-picture questions of humanity and reality while also forcing me to use my brain to connect the pieces of his visual storytelling amid the lack of plain and simple exposition – something that I was annoyed with at first but came to enjoy the more I reflected upon it. Wha...

I have no words. Guys, Annihilation is one heck of a movie. It doesn’t hold my hand through its runtime; instead, it forces me to think with the iron grip of its narrative. For that reason, it is one of the most unique movies I have had the pleasure of experiencing in a theater. Of course, this film goes nowhere without director Alex Garland. I remember watching his first film Ex Machina and getting floored by the points it made about human nature by using an artificially intelligent robot to demonstrate our unique ability of attachment and how that could eventually be our downfall as a race. Besides that, that film was beautiful and brilliantly crafted, a slow burn that exploded in a pitch-perfect climax. Annihilation changes the game a little for Garland as he continues his exploration into human nature. This time, the film centers on our desires and how they ultimately will lead us to our self-destruction. Jennifer Jason Leigh’s character posits at one point that ...

In closing the door on 2016, I realize that there are a lot of films that I have seen that unfortunately I was unable to review for one reason or another. That doesn't mean, however, that I don't want you guys to know what I think of most of these films, so just like the last couple of years I will be doing a few posts over the next month or so wrapping up all of the films I got a chance to see from this past year. This time, I've got one of this year's most prominent sci-fi releases and a non-Transformers Michael Bay film... Arrival  - Buy it.  Arrival is one of the most thought-provoking sci-fi films I've ever seen. The direction from Denis Villeneuve is ridiculously visually rich and very artistic with its long takes and steady shots. Amy Adams turns in the best performance of her career, and the way the film reveals her character's true nature in the third act is stellar. The design of the aliens and their language is beautiful, and I love the film...